The owner of a gym was ordered to stop Zoom classes from his fitness studio even though he was alone.
Nick Wardle, 39, was told to stop running ‘virtual’ exercise classes from his gym despite being the only person there.
He was visited by a council official on Friday after a member of the public reported his Loughborough gym for breaching lockdown.
Gyms are currently closed by lockdown rules in England, but gym boss Nick Wardle thought he would be okay to use his site - so long as he was on his own.
The 39-year-old was the only person present when the covid official told him he was not allowed to continue the online sessions
Charnwood Borough Council later confirmed he could continue with the classes, reports Leicestershire Live.
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Mr Wardle, founder of Body Transformation Centre, said: “There was only me, my laptop and a telly on the wall there.
“There was nobody else who could have been infected or who could have infected me - just clients safe and sound on the other end of a Zoom call.
“But he wasn’t having any of it. He told me ‘I don’t make the rules, the rules are there in black and white’.
“I said it’s not a gym. It’s empty, most of the equipment has gone because I’ve lent most of it out
“It’s a glorified office which I’m just using to do sessions online. I had to laugh but I was absolutely fuming.
“He said he would send me an email to confirm it all but I didn’t get one. I probably shouldn’t have, but I did a video on Facebook where I might have seemed a bit angry and it took off.
“Loads of people were saying how ridiculous it seemed.”
Mr Wardle added: “I’m working from my business premises, which I’m still paying rent on, because I can’t from home as there are family and neighbours who I don’t want to disturb."
He added: “I was more bothered about my clients. Some of them are really struggling with mental stuff.
“We know some of our clients are struggling and exercise is what’s keeping them sane. For us, that’s why we wanted to keep things moving.”
A spokesperson for Charnwood Borough Council said: “We received a complaint last week that the gym was being used, which would be a breach of the Covid regulations.
“An officer visited the premises on Friday and discussed the situation with the owner who said he was using the gym for running virtual classes via Zoom.
“We advised him that he could not operate the gym for the public and that we would review the situation for the Zoom classes.
“We informed the owner at the earliest opportunity, which was on Monday morning, that the Zoom classes could continue.
“The Zoom classes did not have to stop immediately but we apologise if that was not clear.
“If we receive a complaint that a business is breaching Covid regulations then we are duty-bound to investigate.
“While we do investigate complaints, we are also proactive and offer advice and support to businesses in Charnwood about how to comply with the regulations.”
